Island



Apri118,1933. w1.. SMITH, JR., Em 1,904,888

DIAL AND CYLINDER CONNECTON FOR KNITTING MACHINES Original l-iled Feb. 21, 1980 2 sheets-'sheet 1 lmlllly f a" Q. f

April 1s, 1933. w, L SMITH, JR., ET A1. 1,904,888

DIAL AND CYLINDER CONNECTION FOR KNITTING MACHINES i Urignal Filed Feb. 21, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Vlug/5111191912A .STAv v.as PATENT f f wLLIAML. SMITH, Jia., 'ANDNROBERT H. LAwsoN, IOFJPAWTUCKET, 'RHODE..1SLAND; A saro sivuz'rnv AssreNon To MAY` HosIEnY Patented Apr. 18, 1933 CORPORATION.. F TENNESSEE MILLS, or NAsHvmLnJTENNEss'Eni-A i DIAL AND. GYLINDEnlcoNNEcTIoN ron xnrrfinve originan appiieatn mea Feiuary 21, i930, seriai'naasonas.. Dividedv ii thigjaplnieatipliilel A i1 Marchio; 1931.1V serial No. 521,578.

n This inventionv relates to dial and cylinder connections in `knitting machines; and particularly to the means of mounting and drivingthe dial cams in the machine.. f

v An object ofthe inventionisto provide va driving connectionin which the dial assemblage as a whole may be easilylifted out of its operativeposition4 inthe cylinder forpurposes of'inspection and i repair and a further i object is to provide a driving connectiongin which the dial needleswill-always bedriven in perfect synchronism` withv the cylinder I pending application Serial No. 430,436, ,filed February 21, 1930, for knitting machines.

Referring to the accompanying drawings which are made a part hereof and on which similarreference characters indicate similar parts, f

`Figure 1 is l dial and cylinder and dial needles,

f Figure 2, a planviewofFigure 1, Figure 3, a. fragmentary sectional view of the needle dial, v f 1 i f Figure 4, fa view partly in section of the driving connection between: the needles, cylinder and the dial, Y

Figure 5, a plan view of in Figure 3, and

Figure 6, a section on line 6-`-6 of Figure 4 showing means for circumferential adjustment of the dial driving shaft.

As shown in Figure 1 a vdial 10 Vis secured upon a dial post 11. A dial cam 12 is carried on the lower end of a. shaft 13 which shaft is verticallyv slidable in a bracket 14 which is attached to and forms part of a dial cap 15. Surrounding the shaft 13 atits upper end is a coil spring 16 seated in a socket in the upper end of the bracket 14.V The lower end of the spring engages a shoulder in the socket and the upper end engages an arm 17 fastened cams for controlling the thedevices shown Vto the upper end of the shaft 13. The free end of the arm 17 carries a pin 18. `The Y spring 16 tends normally to maintain the cam 12 in engagement with the lower face of the dial cap and when in this position the camV may engage the longer butts on dial needlesl a'view partly in section'of theV as more fully explained in the parent appl-i'caj jf tion. v Thep'in 18 projects through one arm ofl i A a lever 19. The lever .is pivotedupon a'sleeve surrounding the shaft V11 which supports the dial.` The leverv is operated by suitable mechy anism such as that in thefapplicationreferred to for operating cam 12.

f The driving connections 'between the neef- .dle'and dial whereby the dial is driven vin a' fixed circumferential relationwith the'v cyl inder will now be described.V A ring gear 20 is seatedand supported by the circular base: 21 which base `is stationary and` prof vides al bearingsupport for/the ringgear'i Y Fastened toand forming ia part-of thering gear20is a spur gear 22. VA circularplatex` Y 23 is connected to the base 21 and voverhan'gs,

the spur gear 22 serving to hold it and-fthe Y ring gear 2() in place, the spur gear 22 meshes with an intermediateV gear or pinion 2'4whi'ch pinion is ournaled in the base 21. y Thefgear 24 -in turn meshes with a second spur -gear 25. 'Theintermediategear 24 4is removably connected to the circular'base21 by-a'bracket 26 secured at itsends by screws `27 and 28j,-V the latter of which passes through'aslot2'9 formed Vin one end of lthe bracket; f The bracket 26 has asleeve or bearing 30 whichv carriesa stub shaft 31for1nedgasan exten? sionjof the gear`21` and attached 'to 'thefup per -end'of'the shaft 31 is ahead 'pin 32 prol A. vided with 4a -reduced shank portion- 133. Semi-circular platesv 34 arefastenedto the sleeve by screws 35 and engage under the ,head1 of the pin 32 sothat upon removal of the screws 27, 28 the entirejbracke't and spur so Y gear may be raisedbodily `from the ringgear' I land removed from the machine., 'Asgprevif-Y v ously stated intermediate Igear 24 Y meshes with a spur gear 25. iThe gear 25.1is'ma'de integral with or'connectedto asleeve 36",.'th'e sleeve 36 surrounding a sleeve'37.` The sleeve 36is secured to the Asleeve v37 by ,means of set screws 38Iwhich engage'twoarms39 on` the sleeve 37 The arms are formed by cut-- ting away or removing portions` ofthe sleeve? f at 'opposite sidesfJ The setiscrews l38 are se- Y' cured ,inf place byv locking screws 40."- The sleeve 37 isvspline'd to a shaft"41-by a key 100 42 which seats in Va keyway '43ffcut"inth'e' spiral gear 48-which meshes with a second`V spiralY gear '49 :carried by one end of afshaft 50, journaled in bearings 51. At its other end the'shaft 50 has a spiral gear 52 meshing with a spiral gear 53 on theV upper end y ofthe shaft 11. Casings or guards 54 and t n f 55cover the seveiral'gea'rs 48, 49, 52y and 53 as well as the connecting shaft 50. Fixed to theshaft 11 immediately beneath the. gear 53 .'20 plate 59 seats upon the upper, surface of the is a collar 56 having aflange 57 and immediately beneath the flange is a thrust bearing 58f`totake care of the downward thrust due to the rotation ofV the dial. A bifurcated flange 57. Two arms of the plate partly en- 1 Vcircle the collar 56 and act to take the upward thrustofthe shaft 11. The plate 59 vider bearings for shafts 13 and 63.

'is rigidly attachedto a collar 60 which cole lar forms the outer end of a bracket arm 61 which is connected tothe dial supporting post 47. Y The collar 60is fastened to a sleeve 62 which forms a part of the bracket 14 to which latter bracket is rigidly connected dial cap 15." The-bracket 14 also serves to pro-4 The bracket 14 provides in' conjunction with the sleeve 62 a bearing for the dial supporting shaft 1l'. The dial 10 issupported upon the Y lower end of the shaftV 11' to rotate therewith by means of a hub or sleeve 64, which hub is maderintegral with the dial-and depends therefrom. The hub is fastened to the shaft 11 by means of set screws 65. Surrounding the hub 64 is sleeve 66 which is recessed and made fast to the hub 64 by means of a screwY 67. The sleeve 66 is recessed at 68 to permit readyconnection and disconnection of the dial 10 fromV the shaft 11 and the recess also provides an indication Vfor properly aligning the vdial and cylinder so that the long, medium and short ended dial needles may be positioned in the right track grooves in the needlefdial as more fully described in the application of which this is a division. A recess 69 provides means wherebyauXiliary take-up hooks not shown may engage the fabric during knitting of heel and toe pockets and Amaintain a tension upon the stitches so that the dial needles when introduced will cast 0H their made stitches. This feature, however, forms no part of the present invention, but is referred to to give a more complete understanding of the structure shown.

Y It will be obvious to those skilled in the art, that various changes may be made in ourV device without vdeparting from the spirit of the invention and therefore'we do not limit ourselves to what is shown in the drawings and described in the specification, but only as indicated by the appended claims.

Y Having thus fully described our said invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a knitting machine of the character described, including a needle dial and a needle cylinder, means for rotating the dial intime with the said cylinder including a train of gears comprising a ring gear attached to for driving the said cylinder, a gear secured to the said ring gear, a shaft operably connectedfto the dial, a gear on said shaft, an intermediate gear between said last-named gear and the gear on the ring gear, all of said last-named gears lying in a single plane, substantially as set forth.' f

2. In a knitting machine of the character described, including a needle dial and a needle cylinder, means for rotatingthe dial in time with the cylinder including a train of gears consisting of a driven gear,'an intermediate gear and a sleeve provided with` gear teeth, the intermediate gear in mesh with the gear first mentioned and with'theteeth upon the sleeve, a vertically disposed shaft within the sleeve and driven thereby, a gear carried by the shaft at theupper end thereof, a second and horizontally disposed shaft, a gear thereon, a gear adjacent the other end of the hori- IZontally disposed shaft, a third shaft vertically disposed, a gear adjacent the upper end Y thereof in meshwith the gearV last mentioned, the dial fast to the shaft third mentioned at the lower end thereof substantially as set forth. Y s l In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands and seals at Pawtucket, Rhode Island this 5th day of March, A. D. nineteen hundred and thirty-one. Y

WILLIAM L. SMITH, JR. ROBERT H. LAVSON. 

